Every time I open any publication on building these days I read about the newest Green product or service. It seems that everyone is jumping on the band wagon. Don’t get me wrong. I am a strong advocate of the movement to more sustainable building practices, but the huge numbers of builders and manufacturers claiming the mantle of Green made me curious about some of the promises made.
I read about 10 different magazines and online newsletters a month devoted to my trade. I try to keep up. It is getting more and more difficult to discern fact from fiction until I came across an article in EcoHome’s online publication. It is an honest look at how parts of the industry have overstated their products or services “greeness”. The article goes on to show how these inflated claims can hurt all of us trying to go Green in the market place. For more on the subject read the article.
3 Comments
I couldn’t agree more! We (Mclendons and Seattle Lumber) had to hire an expert to study the “green products”, to see if they were legit! I am on board w/ the green movement but I have a feeling I will need a degree before I can weed through the mountain of green literature in my office!
The greeon movement is here to stay whether we like it or not. There are many, many products that are out there, one just has to decide which products best suit their needs. Also one needs to decide what level of “green” they wish to build at. Are you going to be LEED certified and if so what level of LEED certification are you going for, or do you just wish to build an “Energy Star” home?
You are right there are mountains of info and one can get overwhelmed rather easily trying to decide which green direction to go in.
If you’ve never built green before start out by just building an Energy Star home and go up from there. Good luck!
Chuck,
Thanks for the advice. I agree, the green movement is the real thing. I see it in every post I read and all over the news.
You hit the nail on the head when you comment that everyone needs to decide how “green” they are going to be.
What is your take on ANSI adopting the NAHB’s Green standards? I think having a consensus on best practices would be valuable to give all in the field a set standard to aim for. Much like the move nationally to adopt the IRC, with some differences for individual localities.
BOb